


Stand Strong, Stand Together

by Nevi



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-20
Updated: 2012-10-20
Packaged: 2017-11-16 17:09:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/541861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nevi/pseuds/Nevi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shepard learns a secret.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stand Strong, Stand Together

Admiral Steven Hackett had few regrets in life; and most of those regrets came long before the long scar graced his chiselled features; the scar of a war that had him move quickly up the ranks of leadership, leaving waste to any other story that may have been. Those stories that still ran through his mind in the quiet hours left alone with a good cup of coffee and the view of countless stars. Of a time when he still had the love of a good woman, a woman that he had loved back. 

She had been beautiful. Still was. He would see her occasionally at a base, on a star ship, even over the coms as they relayed information to and fro in relation to this or that. Always professional, always curt; he would nod and she might give him a small smile but they would never discuss what they once had. What they had once meant to each other.

He knew she had had a daughter. A daughter that looked so much like her, that held her stubbornness and ideals. She had sent him a picture once, and he could make out the features of her father on her young face. When her daughter joined the military just like her mother at eighteen he had even worked with her. He had taken it upon himself to guide her, to place those he trusted to be her charges. He had even given her assignments, had heard her voice over the speakers and watched her form pace in the hollow image of the quantum entanglement communications system. But only once before had he seen her in person, when he had given her a particularly confidential assignment and the results had been less than ideal. When he had told her there would be repercussions and she had simply agreed. His heart had filled with guilt as he studied her features then, her eyes cast downward; knowing he had caused the heaviness that would now forever weigh on her heart. 

Hackett had few regrets, but if he was being honest, he would say it had been losing the love of that good woman, of never being given the chance to have a family with her. But his heart still swelled with pride as he watched the accomplishments of her daughter, of her ability to do what seemed too many to be impossible. If it was because he could see in her the fiery woman he’d loved once or that he too was caught up in the galactic awe of her actions, he wouldn’t say. But he knew in his heart that she would be the last hope in this war. The war that waged outside the ship he commanded now, that lit up the darkness of space with red beams of light and the silent screams of many as another ship disappeared from the place it occupied moments before.

He had been given the chance to see the young woman again, on the eve of the final assault. He had saluted her one final time; giving her the final orders of the attack, wished her luck, wish them all luck. He knew in these last moments the actions she took could very well change the tide of this war. A war she had warned them was coming, a war which many had turned a deaf ear as she had tried so desperately to find someone that would listen. 

Maybe that was why her question to him now didn’t surprise him, her voice thick and crackling over the speakers. “Sir” she coughed. “Why…” a sputter in her voice and he knew it was because she had blood in her mouth. “Why is it that only you and…” the com system crackled. “… only ones who ever believed me?” 

He knew she had succeeded in the assignment she was given but there had been heavy losses, and by the sound of her voice, of the struggling sound she made as she took a breath he knew she had been injured in the fight; that he was listening to the final words of the daughter of a woman he had loved so very long ago. But he still needed her to fight; they were able to move the final weapon into place and all that was left to do was activate it. He needed her to fulfil her purpose; he needed her to end this war. 

“We weren’t the only ones.” He told her. “You had your crew; they stood at your side.” He could hear her laugh softly a sound he had not heard before, a sound his heart told him he would never hear again.

He focused her back on the objective, told her that it was something on her end, that there was something she had to do to get the weapon to fire. He began to feel the rise of panic as moments went by and there was no response. He called her name, her rank and the relief he felt when she finally spoke mixed with dread.

“I don’t see it… I’m not sure how to…” 

Her transmission was left open and he could hear the ragged sound of her breathing, he called her rank again. “Commander.” Time seemed to slow as he waited for the weapon to fire, as he listened to her breathing. He let out the breath he didn’t know he was holding when she spoke again. She was talking to someone but he didn’t understand the conversation, he was just relieved she was still alive, that she was still fighting. 

“Admiral?” He finally heard her say. 

“I’m here Shepard.” 

It sounded as though she was walking toward something, the clank of a heavy boot on metal with the haggard sound of a leg being dragged with each step. “You didn’t answer my question.” She breathed. He could hear the faint click of a pistol and the echoing shot that followed. “Shepard?” He called, fear lacing its way into his normally steadfast voice.

“I’m still here.” She coughed. Another shot followed by the crackling of the com system. He waited to hear another shot before responding.

“Because you have my eyes.” He responded softly, his voice thick and wet. The shots had sped up during this revelation and he knew the heat sink in her pistol must be spent as a short silence followed.

“Daddy?” It was barely more than a whisper before the violent sound of an explosion and the transmission died. All at once the communication system on his ship began picking up the chatter of the fleet; a fleet many believed impossible to obtain, one that now carried the voices of many races in the sound of victory. His heart battled between sorrow, pride and relief. The weapon had fired, all their hope had gone into it, into her and she had succeeded but at what cost they had yet to know. 

His breathing hitched and he could feel heaviness in his chest. _My little girl…_

**Author's Note:**

> Fill for this prompt on MEK:
> 
> "Hackett is Shepard's Daddy!
> 
> LONG PROMPT IS LONG, because I want to write this, I just can't figure out how to.
> 
> Written with FemShep in mind, but IDC if its manshep either.
> 
> This is somewhat inspired by a couple of other prompts, but follow my train of thought for a moment....
> 
> I was looking at the timeline for Mass Effect and saw that at the time of the First Contact War (which only lasted 3 months) Hackett was 23, Anderson was 20, and baby Shepard was 3.
> 
> A previous prompter asked the question, why do Hackett and Anderson ALWAYS side with Shepard? Obviously assuming Spacer background, my headcanon is because Hackett is actually Shepard's daddy, and Anderson was an unsuspecting PFC (I like to think Anderson started off as enlisted) that accidentally got roped into helping with the delivery.
> 
> Details aren't really important, but I imagine that Hackett/Hannah Shepard as a Jr Officers get pulled in different directions but try to make things work out for their child, and its hard but they're trying right up until the First Contact War - from then on they're pulled in drastically different directions. Hackett gets promoted quickly, gets deployed getting to know the newly discovered galactic community etc while Hannah Shepard continues working mainly in home systems or long deployments and raising little Shep alone.
> 
> That's mainly backstory though, because the two moments I REALLY WANT TO SEE ARE:
> 
> *Young Hackett trying to be a family man while destiny pulls him towards what we all know he really is. I want to see him kissing his baby goodbye on the forehead before heading off to war.
> 
> *Hackett finally getting a chance to "meet" his daughter after not seeing her for a few years (since she was 3 or younger, during/just before the first contact war), but deciding NOT to because he knows he's never going to be able to be a real father to her. I want that heart-wrenching moment where he watches his amazing kid from afar but can't talk to her, or at least cant tell her who he is. Maybe Hannah has already told Shep that her father is dead.
> 
> *Shepard ASKING HACKETT at the end, maybe right before the assault on TIM's base, WHY he always backed her up so faithfully, and him grabbing her shoulders, staring at her intensely, and saying "Because you have my eyes," before sending his kid off to die for the sake of the galaxy. "
> 
> Originally posted: June 10, 2012 as Stand Fast, Stand Strong


End file.
